Rivian creates another spinoff company called Mind Robotics

Rivian created its second spinoff company this year: an industrial AI and robotics company called Mind Robotics.

“New efforts will be focused on using industrial AI to reimagine how businesses operate in the physical world and how Rivian operations data is the foundation of a robotics data flywheel,” the company’s third-quarter shareholder letter published Tuesday said. (This is a mouthful; we’ve asked Rivian to clarify things a bit more and will update the post if it does.)

Rivian said Tuesday it had secured about $110 million in “external seed capital,” but did not immediately provide other information about Mind Robotics. “We believe AI-enabled robotics can support a wide range of industrial applications,” Rivian wrote in the letter.

The launch of Mind Robotics marks the second time this year that Rivian has created a new standalone company. In March, the The company created its Skunkworks micromobility division At a startup called Also Inc. The new company was partially funded by money from Eclipse, along with Additional funding from Greenoaks Capital.

a trademark application A filing Monday with the US Patent and Trademark Office for Mind Robotics lists Eclipse partner Jiten Bahl as a signatory to the newly-formed company, with Eclipse’s Palo Alto headquarters as the corporate address. Bahl did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

It’s not clear that Rivian employees are moving to Mind Robotics, as it were. A Rivian spokeswoman declined to comment. But the company hinted at the possibility in Tuesday’s letter.

“With our strong bench of technology talent and an innovation-driven culture, we have been able to identify additional areas of value to accelerate our mission at greater scale while maintaining Rivian’s focus,” Scaringe wrote.

Robotics and industrial AI are hot areas for investment right now. There is a Many humanoid robotics companies Collecting money and trying to ship products with Tesla. General Motors is doing its own thing Department of Robotics and AIvery

Beyond Rivian’s announcement on Tuesday, though, little is known about what Mind Robotics will do. There is no digital footprint for the company yet, except for trademark applications. This application is very broadly targeted and says Mind Robotics can use the trademark for everything from machinery, to vehicles, to “incubators for eggs.”